A Second Chance

Remember my dress dilemma?  Mr. Pug gave me permission to go dress shopping and try on other dresses.  David's Bridal recently opened it's first store in Hawaii, so we ventured over on a whim to see if they could fit us in.  When we got there, we registered at the front desk and our sales consultant, Daisy, came to get an idea of what we were looking for.  I told her strapless mermaid, no preference on color.  We gathered 3 dresses to try on, picked out some shoes, and she brought me some undergarments to use.

The first dress was a white trumpet style gown that I had liked on the website:

 I didn't care for the way the bottom flared out, and it just looked a little "messy".

Dress 2 was a satin ivory gown:

 

It felt a little plain, but I did like the ivory color better than the harsh white from the first dress.  Daisy agreed and thought that I would really like dress number 3 because it combined the elements I liked from the two dresses.

Dress number three is an ivory satin mermaid gown with a little beading at the neckline:

Daisy was right!  I loved it.  The dress somehow gave me a waist and the material was so soft.  It was comfy, and most importantly, I felt beautiful!  Mr. Pug liked it too!  I walked around in the store with it on for a bit deciding if I should take the plunge.  At this point Mr. Pug was all for it...there was just one problem...the week was less than 13 weeks away.  Ordering a dress in my size would take 12-15 weeks.  Daisy thought there might be a possibility it would come in earlier, but we didn't really want to take that chance.  She made a few phone calls to see when they could get it in.  February 7th...one day after the wedding.  I was bummed.  Daisy checked the computers to see if other stores had the dress in my size on the racks.  All petite dresses are special ordered, so I would have to get the regular size and have it hemmed.  The other downside is that it would cost $105 to get it shipped to the Hawaii store.  I was already over my dress budget (since I bought the first dress), so this new dress plus shipping plus alterations would be too much.  Then I got an idea...I asked which stores had the dress in my size, and one happened to be in Oregon near my brother's house.  I made the phone call to my brother to see if he could run down to the store, Daisy called the store to relay the information to them, and I called my mom to see if she could pick up my dress on her next flight to Oregon.  Half an hour later, I had purchased the dress (no tax -- bonus!) and just had to be patient while I waited for it to come home.  How exciting!  I never teared up or got "that feeling," but I love the dress and can't wait to wear it for the wedding.

Registering Blues

When it comes to registering, I had a picture in my head of a happy, trigger-happy couple prancing around a store with a scan gun in hand merrily pointing it at anything and everything that me their fancy.  I searched online for a picture but came up short...really, I have no idea where this picture in my head came from.  Must have been a movie.  Anyways, that pretty picture in my head is soooo not what registering was like for me and Mr. Pug.

First of all, we currently live together and have all the basics.  Granted, they are not the best quality and we usually eat out of paper plates and use plastic forks, but that is mostly by choice (I am too lazy to wash dishes).  I would love to upgrade our dinnerware, silverware, drinkware, appliances, etc. BUT, we are currently renting a tiny duplex, and we barely have enough room for what we currently own.  If only I could delay my registering until the day we find a house to buy...

So, we considered not registering.  Mr. Pug actually thought only mainland people registered, not people in Hawaii.  While it's true that Hawaii people generally give money for weddings, I knew that there would be some guests who might not feel comfortable with that and others that would want to buy actual things for the shower.  So, if people were going to buy things anyway, I might as well let them know what we would like, right?  So I decided to register for at least a few things for those who might be looking to buy us a gift.

 My first problem was deciding where to register.  This issue is a little harder in Hawaii because many of the big chains (Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.) do not have stores here.

We just got a Target a few months ago, and since I love Target, I thought it would be perfect!  But then I heard that returning items is difficult there, especially if you don't have a receipt.  Now, I wouldn't necessarily return things that I asked for on my registry, but what if I happen to get multiples with no gift receipt.  To return an item at Target without a receipt, you must exchange it for a single item of equal or greater value in the same department that the item you are returning came from.  On top of that, they take all your personal information and limit you to doing this once or twice a year.  I love Target, but that just sounds like too much of a hassle.

My next choice would be Crate & Barrel or Bed Bath and Beyond, but since there are not physical stores in the state, it may be difficult for guests, especially those who don't feel comfortable buying things online.  Shipping to Hawaii is also expensive.

The only other on-island places I could think of were Macy's and Williams-Sonoma.  Williams-Sonoma seemed too pricey and I just wasn't thrilled about Macy's.  I really wish Costco had a registry because I saw a lot of things I wouldn't mind getting there :)

Right now I'm still undecided about whether or not to register.  Did you register?  Where?  Was it everything you dreamed it to be?

Not "The One"

You may remember that I bought my dress on a whim back when we first got engaged.  I never did the whole dress shopping experience for "the one" and I hadn't even really tried it on before I bought it.  The dress sat in a box at my parents' house before I finally tried it on.  I was worried that I wouldn't like it since I had second thoughts on what kind of dress I wanted.

I finally brought the dress out of the box and tried it on...it fit perfectly and I loved it!  The corset back meant I could adjust the fit to my body, and the length was just right.  All I'd need to do is have it pressed before the big day.  I was so excited and pranced around the house for a bit before taking it off.  I had my mom take a few pictures of me in the dress so I would remember what it looked like as I shopped for accessories.

The next night, my mom emailed me the pictures she had taken.  Eeew!  I didn't like the way I looked in the dress.  I thought maybe it was because I didn't have any make-up on, so I cropped my face out of the picture.  I still didn't like it.  The flared skirt made me look short and stumpy, and I just didn't feel beautiful in it.  I pushed the photos aside and tried to remember how much I liked the dress when I saw it in person, but all I could picture in my mind were those horrible pictures.  I've been debating whether or not to post a picture, and I figured "why not?" -- the whole purpose of doing this blog is to document the wedding planning process -- the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly...

The dress is a little wrinkled, but you get the point.  After mulling over this for a couple weeks, I finally brought up how I was feeling to Mr. Pug.  He didn't understand and didn't think I should spend more money on a second dress.  I talked to my mom about it and we decided to see if we could get the dress altered to be more fitted.  Since I was planning on spending $100 to have the dress pressed before the wedding, I thought this was a good option as they would probably press the dress as part of the alteration process.

I took the dress in to see what a tailor could do.  She pinned the sides to show what it would look like if she took the skirt in a bit, but I didn't see that big of a difference, and the price was more than I was expecting.

I'm still not sure what I should do.  Suck it up and make do with what I have (it doesn't look that bad, right?!) or spend the extra cash to get a dress I really like?  Anyone else end up buying a dress then changing your mind?

Centerpiece Trial

When we first started thinking about our budget, I was thinking about $20 per centerpiece.  Then I did some research and found that people regularly spent $100+ per centerpiece.  Egad!  With 25 tables, that would quickly eat up a large part of our budget.  We decided to try and see if we could DIY our centerpieces and save some money.  Here are some of the inspiration pictures I found:

After shopping around a bit and experimenting with some orchid sprays, we decided to go with a simple tall vase with a submerged orchid stem.  We added black river rocks to the bottom and a submersible tea light to illuminate the flowers.  It looks really cool when we turn down the lights.

The budget breakdown for this centerpiece:
Vase - $7 (Ross)
River Rocks - $1.50 ($5/5 lbs at Target)
Submersible Tea Light - $2.50 ($25/10-pack at Floradec)
Orchid Stem - $1.50 (University Flowers)
Water - Free! (I'm just using plain ol' tap water)

What are some DIY projects you are taking on to save money?